Lance's Birthday

So I am only a week late in reporting how Lance's 27th went. He really didn't want to do much this year nor did he ask for anything. Sure makes it hard to plan a huge bash for the birthday boy! I did want to make his day special (as he always does for me) so I did the following:

• I almost got up in time to make him breakfast. But, alas, getting up early will NEVER, EVER be my strong point. So instead, I bought him a pastry at the grocery store the day before and made sure we had orange juice.

The Wonderland Bakery put together a huge castle box full of cookies, cupcakes and bookmarks and delivered it to his work. Luckily, I dropped the camera off at his workplace during my lunch break so we will have pictures to post of this. He sent me an email to say:

I received a huge, house looking box today. I am sure you had something to do with this. Thank you, honey. Now, if I could just figure out how to open it.

• For dinner we went to the Melting Pot again. We had a coupon that we couldn't let go to waste :-) I made sure to have balloons, a card and roses waiting there for him.
• I purchased a gourmet german chocolate cake from a fancy local bakery. (Let's face it - working full time, taking care of a hubby and puppy AND volunteering takes up most of my free time and leaves little time for baking. ) I only had one small piece but thought the toasted coconut on the sides of the cake added a special touch. Lance agreed and proceeded to eat the cake over the next few days.
• I decided to buy him an iPod Nano. He loves music and loves Apple products. (We are definately a MAC family...now if we could just purchase a MAC computer one of these days :-) ) He has been using this gift constantly ever since. More than once I have heard him belting John Elton's "I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues" on his walks with Sofi.

The only disappointment of the whole day was that he forgot the camera at work so I don't have any pictures of the festivities. Once the camera resurfaces at home, I will post pictures of the tasty surprise.

Buon Giorno Principessa

Our Early Morning Routine
5:45 a.m. - Sofi wakes up, stretches, scratches her ears, cleans her unmentionable parts like a cat, yawns really loud. Her way of saying - Get up and take me for a walk.
5:50 a.m. - Realizing we aren't moving yet, she jumps off our bed (don't get me started on why we have a dog in our bed) and makes her way to the front door.
5:51 a.m. - Sofi scratches the front door, whines a little, and then sits patiently in front of it. This is Lance's cue to get dressed and take her out.
6:00 a.m. - Sofi and Lance leave for a quick walk. I go back to sleep.

Are you picturing this yet? Well, this morning, Sofi decided to mix it up a bit. She woke up at her usual time but both Lance and I were NOT getting up that early. Lance worked until 2 a.m. and I never sleep well when he is gone. Needless to say, we were beat.

She did her usual scratch, lick, yawn, stretch bit and then scratched relentlessly at the front door, whining quite loudly. We both pretended we were completely deaf and in comas. Realizing we weren't going to budge, Sofi trotted back into our room.

Silence. Silence always means trouble when you have a snoopy beagle. I dared to peek out of one of my eyes, only to see her sitting right next to my side of the bed, her head cocked slightly to one side, looking for signs of life. I should have been an actress because I was doing a great job of pretending I was asleep. Sofi knew better.

Next thing I know, she is up on our bed, burrowing herself underneath the covers next to me.

"Good." I thought. "She is going back to sleep. Good girl."

Boy, was I wrong. Definitely wrong. No more monkey business for this dog. She thrashed around under the covers for about 2 minutes. When I say thrash, I mean THRASH. As though she was bitten by fleas. Hoping to win my Oscar for this great sleep scene, I laid as still as a stump.

Sofi peeked out of the covers every 30 seconds or so to see if I was awake. Then, seeing I wasn't going to give in, she went back to her undercover burrowing. After her doing this twice, I couldn't feign it any longer. My laugher gave me away.

She proceeded to bound out from underneath the comforter, shower me with puppy kisses, then sit at the edge of the bed looking longingly at the door. (I am not exaggerating. She has these looks about her. Guilty looks, sad looks, mad looks, begging looks. Her eyes are quite expressive.) Against every fiber in my being, I got up, put on a coat and shoes and took that silly dog for her morning trot around the block.

Mission accomplished, Princess Sofi.

Congrats Vicki!

My sister-in-law Vicki just told me she got the job of her dreams, working as a faculty member at a branch of West Virginia University. Three cheers for Vicki! I am really excited for her...so much, I had to post it to our blog.

Red Cross Graduates

Yesterday, Lance and I completed the Red Cross Adult/Child/Infant CPR and First Aid Certification. We even bought a CPR mask, in case we will need it in an emergency.

I am even toying with the idea of becoming a member of the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) and completing the training program they offer.

I did decide we need to make sure we have a good 72 hour kit and need to store more water. You can never be too prepared in S. California!

The Death of a Bunny

I should be writing my essay for Graduate school right now. But, I have been procrastinating this task for a month now. So I figure, why not procrastinate another 20 minutes?

Top Ten Reasons this Easter Weekend Rocked

10. I didn't have to make a huge ham dinner.

9. My deviled eggs were perfecto. (Thanks again to my Aunt Lorraine for the secret recipe.)

8. Ferris Bueller's Day Off came in the mail from Blockbuster.

7. The Easter Bunny was quite good to Lance and I.


6. We got to chaperone the Irvine Stake's Youth Dance. Loud music, a bunch of LDS teenagers, and Lance having to stop boys swinging from the basketball hoop. Best time EVER.



5. I was asked to dance by a 16 year old boy. I politely refused...But sure, I was flattered! Looking like your 14 yrs. old when you are actually 28 can be a compliment, right?



4. Sofi loved her new stuffed bunny.



3. Cheap stuffed bunny from Ralph's: $9.99. Watching Sofi tear the bunny up: $0. Vet bill for removing stuffing from her intestines: $1000 Lance getting to use the shop vac to vaccuum up the blanket of stuffing off of our floor: Priceless.

Disclaimer: We really didn't have to go to the vet, as I feared. Apparently, Sofi's digestive system is quite mature and can handle a lot of polyester.

2. We were able to talk to most of our family members on the phone.

1. I was able to teach a lesson on Easter and how it relates to us @ church. What a great way to remember the Savior and the true meaning of Easter! I love teaching....

Yes, The Easter Bunny Delivers

Feeling very homesick for MN, my mom, and the Easters I had as a kid, I decided to become the Easter bunny this year. I felt that the non-married males in my family needed an Easter basket surprise. I headed to my two favorite stores to buy Easter goodies - Harry and David's and Target.

I spent way more than I should at Harry and David's but figured it was okay because they sell my beloved Jordan almonds, some tasty gummy bunnies and Lance's fav - truffles. (I can thank my Auntie Lorraine for helping me to discover this great candy store. Another reason to be MN homesick.)

But, my Easter spending spree did not stop there. I went to Target and decided that no only would I send baskets to my brothers and dad, but I would send a package to Lance's little brother who is on a LDS mission. As I unloaded my CARTfull of marshmellowy peeps, chocolate eggs, jelly beans, pastel-colored plastic eggs, M&Ms, Milkyway Bunnies, Crunch bars, etc., the checker's eyes grew large.

Checker: "Wow. Your kids are going to be really happy this Easter."
Kristi: "Why do you say that?"
Checker: "I have never seen anyone buy that much candy for Easter baskets and I have been here a few years."

Thanks Targetman! I guess my kids will be lucky. Not this year, though, since I don't have any kiddies at home. I filled my baskets last night, getting ready to ship them and Lance and Sofi BOTH were stealing some chocolate off of the table. Lance ate so much candy that he didn't eat much of his dinner and Sofi had an upset stomach all night.

I guess I do have some "kids" at home afterall.

Picture Perfect Pup

Isn't she beautiful? We can't help but adore our little girl, Sofi. She is full grown now so she isn't so little anymore. The only way we know she is still a puppy is because she still chews up everything she can find....Pens are her contraband of choice. Good thing we invested in the Green Mean Carpet Cleaning Machine.

Fun Times with the Fam

Luke came out for his Spring break in March with his girlfriend Jamie. We had a lot of fun at Disneyland, the beach, Knott's Berry Farm, and just hanging around. The weather was perfect when they were here - upper 70s and sunny.


Sofi, of course, LOVED Uncle Lukie. She even slept with him one night. The picture above is my favorite picture of the whole trip. We were headed to Newport Beach and Sofi didn't want to sit in back with the Ladies. She had to squeeze her way up front. She got the attention from the boys she desired. Spoiled dog.

Luke refused to wear sun screen so he returned home a little crispy. Here we are at the Dog Beach in Huntington Beach. We tried to have a picnic but unfortunately learned that sand, turkey sandwiches and lots of dogs, don't really go together. Jamie gathered sea shells to take home to her mom and found quite a jackpot in Huntington Beach.

I was very sad to see Luke leave. I couldn't help laugh, though, when he and Jamie returned to two feet of snow in MN and we stayed here with our perfect weather.

California Missions

If I was trained in photography, my first artisitic journey in California would focus on the Catholic missions here. I would make a point to travel to all 21 mission and take pictures of these beautiful locations.

The San Juan Capistrano Mission is my favorite. The picture above is one I took while visiting it with Luke, my brother, last month. Not bad, eh?

I brought both of my visiting brothers out for a visit to this mission when they came to visit in Feb. (Tom's Visit) and in March (Luke's Visit).